TPMS Sensor Faults: 2015 Acura RDX

[schurchill39]

These damn TPMS sensors are really starting to wear on me. After a suspected dead battery on my winters that are going into their third season (seems early to me but not out of the ordinary) our TPMS system went haywire. I took the vehicle into Honda to replace the sensor and after a day of fiddling around with it they called me to tell me that since they were not Acura/Honda rims or sensors not only would their diagnostics equipment not connect to anything their sensors wouldn't seal to the rim so there is nothing they could do for me. I didn't get charged for the sensor, only $100 for the attempts to unsuccessfully diagnose it.

I took the car back to Blaskin & Lane who we originally bought the rims and tires from and they have been absolutely awesome to deal with. We ended up replacing 2x sensors and reprogrammed one of the sensor's ID's that Honda seemingly erased from a good sensor while they were pissing around.

Now I have 4 good sensors and they are accurately reading my tire pressure. But today the system went off AGAIN! I'm now leaning towards the TPMS control unit being pooched. I've got warranty on the car still but have had nothing but problems with Acura lady taxing my wife when I get her to drop it off because I'm frequently out of town for work.

What are Beyonds' thoughts on this? Do I suck it up and take it to Acura hoping they find something faulty under warranty? Is there a way that you Honda/Acura gurus know to determine WHERE the fault is coming from? Do I keep bothering Blaskin & Lane?

[Tik-Tok]

Did you (or them) check the spare?

[schurchill39]

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Did you (or them) check the spare?

No we did not. I was not aware the spare had a TPMS sensor in it because it doesn't get recorded as an individual tire pressure in the information screen. The diagram of the car displays the pressure for each individual corner and if one sensor is malfunctioning it will show -- in place of the pressure while still showing the pressure for the other three functional sensors. This is what led us to replace the original sensor. With the current issue all four corners are displaying -- as soon as the warning lights went off.

[mzdspd]

So the system just shuts off all of the sensors?

What if you just swapped summer wheels on the fronts and wait to see if it sets it off.. and if it doesnt, then swap the rear summers on. Process of elimination for each individual sensor? And was this ever an issue with the OEM acura sensors?

[Tik-Tok]

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No we did not. I was not aware the spare had a TPMS sensor in it because it doesn't get recorded as an individual tire pressure in the information screen. The diagram of the car displays the pressure for each individual corner and if one sensor is malfunctioning it will show -- in place of the pressure while still showing the pressure for the other three functional sensors. This is what led us to replace the original sensor. With the current issue all four corners are displaying -- as soon as the warning lights went off.

Ahh, just wondering. I know it's a common issue on Toyota's that have a TPMS on a spare, but doesn't show individual tires.

[schurchill39]

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So the system just shuts off all of the sensors?

What if you just swapped summer wheels on the fronts and wait to see if it sets it off.. and if it doesnt, then swap the rear summers on. Process of elimination for each individual sensor? And was this ever an issue with the OEM acura sensors?

The tire shop is able to determine which sensor was faulty via their scan tool. We replaced the two faulty ones and reset the system. All four were reading strong and accurate. This is the first time we've ever had any TPMS issues. Acura OEM sensors have been on since the car was new in August 2014 and these are the same winters we had since November 2014 as well. So they have had 3 winters of good use.

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Ahh, just wondering. I know it's a common issue on Toyota's that have a TPMS on a spare, but doesn't show individual tires.

I'll look into it and see if the spare tire has a sensor or not. I don't think it does but I've been wrong before.

[mzdspd]

Okay so lets just clarify. You have OEM Acura Wheels (Acura TPMS) with Summer tires and then a second set of aftermarket wheels (aftermarket TPMS) and winter tires.

On the the Winter setup, you are having these TPMS errors? And then on the summer setup, you are not having any TPMS issues?

[90_Shelby]

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Okay so lets just clarify. You have OEM Acura Wheels (Acura TPMS) with Summer tires and then a second set of aftermarket wheels (aftermarket TPMS) and winter tires.

On the the Winter setup, you are having these TPMS errors? And then on the summer setup, you are not having any TPMS issues?

I was going to post something similar. I'd swap on the summers (roads are clear anyway) and see if you have the same issue. Should help determine if it's the aftermarket sensors or not.

[Tik-Tok]

Another thought. Where are you storing your summer tires? If in close enough proximity, your system might be seeing too many sensors and confusing it. My summer rims don't have sensors but when I park in the garage, 15' away from my winter tires, my car still picks them up and shuts off my TPMS light.

[schurchill39]

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Okay so lets just clarify. You have OEM Acura Wheels (Acura TPMS) with Summer tires and then a second set of aftermarket wheels (aftermarket TPMS) and winter tires.

On the the Winter setup, you are having these TPMS errors? And then on the summer setup, you are not having any TPMS issues?

The TPMS error did not come up until thursday of last week. I swapped over to the winter rims, sensors and tires (all aftermarket) on Sunday November 5th and didn't have an issue with the TPMS until November 24th. There was a trip to Saskatoon as well as regular day to day driving between the 5-24. However, you are correct in that I did not have this issue with the summer tire setup, but I also have never had this issue with the winter tire set up before either.

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I was going to post something similar. I'd swap on the summers (roads are clear anyway) and see if you have the same issue. Should help determine if it's the aftermarket sensors or not.

This is probably a wise idea but I've ran for almost a month on the winters with no problems until recently so I am not sure if this will help but it definitely will not hurt to try.

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Another thought. Where are you storing your summer tires? If in close enough proximity, your system might be seeing too many sensors and confusing it. My summer rims don't have sensors but when I park in the garage, 15' away from my winter tires, my car still picks them up and shuts off my TPMS light.

Summers and winters are always stored in my attic of my garage. These errors have always popped up while we are away from home and parking in the garage does not clear it, or fix it. Through airing up and airing down I have been able to determine that they are reading the wheels installed on the car (after the 40km or so relearning drive).

[hrdkore]

Friend of ours had the same issue with aftermarket TPMS sensors, they also have a 2012 RDX. Seems to be a common problem? the solution was getting OEM TPMS sensor.

[schurchill39]

Update:
I put the summers back on and reset the computer and the TPMS error went away. Because of this, I took the winter wheels back and got the last 2 sensors replaced so now I have 4 brand new sensors. The tech at Blaskin & Lane tested the signal strength of all of them and they were strong. When he tried to program in the ID's of the sensors into the vehicle the computer would not allow them to be recorded via scanning. He manually set the sensor IDs into the computer and the code went away. After about 3 hours of driving the TPMS error came on again.

So now with 4 new sensors in a vehicle that has run 3 winters with aftermarket wheels/tires/sensors I am leaning towards the TPMS control module being on its way out. I (unfortunately) have an appointment booked in with Silverhill Acura to look at that.

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Friend of ours had the same issue with aftermarket TPMS sensors, they also have a 2012 RDX. Seems to be a common problem? the solution was getting OEM TPMS sensor.

This is what I am afraid Acura is going to tell me but I think its bullshit, especially because they will tell me that their sensors don't fit aftermarket rims so I need to buy oem rims (Honda already told us that). The vehicle has run 3 winters with aftermarket TPMS sensors so why its suddenly gone all wonky leads me to believe its something in the car's electronics. Also, I would really hope a major automotive brand wouldn't lock down their vehicle so tight that you cannot use anything aftermarket equipment on it.

[JDMMAN]

schurchill39 - consider getting cloneable TPMS' so your car's TPMS computer can't tell the difference between summer/winter sets.

[tirebob]

If you would like a third party, unbiased test of your sensors, stop buy my shop in the NE and let us have a look. I won't take a dime off you to have a scan and see if anything is whacky. Aftermarket and factory should make zero difference. All it is is programming and the codes are the codes... It may be something super simple and overlooked.

[schurchill39]

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If you would like a third party, unbiased test of your sensors, stop buy my shop in the NE and let us have a look. I won't take a dime off you to have a scan and see if anything is whacky. Aftermarket and factory should make zero difference. All it is is programming and the codes are the codes... It may be something super simple and overlooked.

You continue to be a hell of a man Bob! I may take you up on that offer once I am back in Calgary next week.

[schurchill39]

Update two: The car will read all the sensors for a day or so, then the next the TPMS system goes off. Rinse and repeat. Just like I thought would happen Acura told me that the issue is the fact that I have aftermarket sensors and according to my tech Acuras will only read OEM so I "must have gotten lucky if they worked before". After declining her offer to take $400 off my hands I am back to square one. I'll swing by and see tirebob and if he can't figure it out I'll just live with the light.

[Tik-Tok]